Winter isn’t the only time we need to drive with great attention

After having three major traffic accidents in recent days — including some fatalities — it shouldn’t need to be repeated, but be careful out there.

A reporter here commented that we tend to be extra careful in the winter because of ice, lack of light and occasional blowing snow. That’s true, but it seems like when this time of year comes along we still see preventable accidents.

Too often there are common causes:

• Distracted in your car whether it’s children, pets, eating or using a cell phone.

• Speeding really doesn’t get you there that much sooner, if at all. If you believe you can shave minutes off your drive from Palmer to Wasilla or Knik, time yourself sometime. And then time yourself if you drive the speed limit and obey traffic laws. You will be surprised and ideally, humbled.

• Drinking and using drugs has been well-documented and completely avoidable.

• Pushing the limit of your ability to drive when tired. We tend to think of this when people come home from a long weekend of fishing and can’t seem to pull the line out of the water until the last moment. But tired drivers are on the road for a variety of reasons: late flight home, end of an exhausting shift, no sleep because the baby kept you up all night. The reasons are manifold.

The bottom line is that whenever you drive on the roads or highways, you are at constant risk of being injured or killed because you are driving poorly, or someone else is.

Good driving is the best way to be safe.

The next best result is only a traffic citation and an increase in insurance premiums.

We all have to take responsibility for our driving and watch the other drivers. Don’t assume the guy at the light will stop for the red. Keep a good distance from others in front of you. Like speeding, tailgating will not get you there one bit faster and it can worry the driver in front, or cause them to get angry.

This is also the time when motorcycles are out in force, so watch for them.

They are hard to see between cars and trucks. They can come out of nowhere at intersections.

We’re not off to a very good start for the summer, so let’s get in tune with our better driving selves.